Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Fake Video of Swat Flogging, Alleged Justice & Lawyers Movement.

If Flogging is not Islamic as LHC Judge says then what about “Milad”??? Is Milad Islamic and if it is then where it is ordered in Sunnah to hold Milad Processions and Gatherings. Without even verification the Lahore High Court says that Flogging is not True Picture of Islam [Sunnah says it is very much Islamic to flog who is guilty]. I wonder if CJ [LHC) Khawaja Mohammad Sharif does even know about the Bida'at [Innovation] of celebrating of Prophet Mohammad [PBUH]'s Milad in the light of Quran and Sunnah for which Judiciary has suddenly found a place in every decision making particularly in any proccedding related with Zardari, Politicians and Elected Parliament.

RAWALPINDI, April 11: The flogging of a teenage girl in Swat does not portray the true picture of Islam as it is not clear whether or not the exact procedure for convicting her under religious laws was adopted and who had issued the Hadd and under what authority. This was stated by senior most judge of the Lahore High Court Justice Khwaja Mohammad Sharif while addressing a Mehfil-i-Milad arranged by the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHBA) here on Saturday. The recently reinstated judge of the LHC said irrespective of the fact whether the video was real or fake, it was a conspiracy to malign Islam and bring a bad name to Pakistan showing the world that Islam was a religion of extremism. Mr Sharif, who was called chief justice of the LHC by the bar representatives, said Islam had laid very strict procedure to implement Hudood laws, almost making it impossible to apply. He questioned under what authority the girl was flogged and what procedure was adopted to declare her guilty. The justice said Islam demanded four witnesses with immaculate character for conviction or the confession of the accused person. The president of the HCBA highlighted the role of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a legislator and a judge, saying the whole world has been taking benefit of the Islamic laws. The bar also arranged a Naat competition taking one lawyer from every district of Rawalpindi division. The competition was won by Chaudhry Zubair from Chakwal. The function was attended among others by four judges of the LHC, four session judges and lawyers. The HCBA had also invited Justice Maulvi Anwarul Haq, Justice Syed Sajjad Husain Shah and Justice Mazhar Hussain Minhas of the LHC’s Rawalpindi bench, earning the ire of the DBA Rawalpindi. REFERENCE: Girl’s flogging not true picture of Islam, says LHC judge By Our Reporter Sunday, 12 Apr, 2009 http://www.dawn.com/news/946423/girl-s-flogging-not-true-picture-of-islam-says-lhc-judge

One by One every character [Lawyer] of “Free Judiciary Movement” will be fixed because more than 50 innocent lives were "LOST" due to this “ACCURSED” Movement which was launched to provide safe exit to GENERAL MUSHARRAF/MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT to restore it’s “NON EXISTENT HONOUR” and restoring its PRE 12 OCT 1999 POSITION I.E. SOLE POWER IN PAKISTAN. LATIF KHOSA [ONE OF THE CAMPAIGNERS OF CJ'S PUNJAB TRIP] WAS THE FIRST: Latif Khosa dissatisfied with Justice Ramday Updated at: 1344 PST, Thursday, November 05, 2009 [GEO TV] - LATIF KHOSA [ONE OF THE CAMPAIGNERS OF CJ'S PUNJAB TRIP] WAS THE FIRST - ISLAMABAD: Former Attorney General Sardar Latif Khosa filed a petition at Supreme Court (SC) for the exclusion of Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday from the bench constituted to hear the corruption case filed against him (Khosa), Geo News reported Thursday. The petitioner Sardar Latif Khosa said in his plea that Justice Khalil is biased, as he passed antagonistic remarks during the hearing of a case relating Benazir Bhutto. Latif Khosa also attached with the petition a resolution of Lahore High Court Bar passed in 1998 against Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday. It should be mentioned that corruption case against Latif Khosa is scheduled to be held tomorrow with a five-strong bench headed by Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday. Earlier, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry also separated from a bench hearing the same case. REFERENCE: Latif Khosa dissatisfied with Justice Ramday Updated at: 1344 PST, Thursday, November 05, 2009 http://www.geo.tv/11-5-2009/52432.htm

KURD WAS FIXED SOME DAYS BACK, LAHORE: Judges of the higher judiciary are making up their minds about cases after reading newspaper headlines and watching TV shows, former president Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Ali Ahmed Kurd said on Tuesday. Describing the present situation as “justice hurry and justice worry”, Kurd deplored the fact that the judges were visiting and addressing the bars and said they would have to “prove themselves worthy of their positions”. According to Kurd, judges in the United States neither read newspapers nor watched TV programmes, but focused only on their work. - ISLAMABAD: Ali Ahmed Kurd, the firebrand leader of the lawyers’ movement and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, who has been keeping quiet for quite some time, surprised a lot of people on Tuesday with his blunt criticism of the way the Supreme Court was behaving. Judges should “behave like judges”, he said. Speaking during a talk show on “Challenges facing the judiciary”, he said that people had reservations about the verdict handed down by the Supreme Court on petitions challenging the National Reconciliation Ordinance.

According to him, the judgment appeared to be based on newspaper headlines and talk shows of private TV channels. Mr Kurd said that an independent judiciary had been restored after a great struggle, adding that the country would become stronger if the judiciary acted in the manner expected by the nation during the struggle. “If it does not happen, it will cause a blow to national security.” He said he had been invited by various bar councils after the restoration of the judiciary, but he preferred to keep quiet. He said he did not attend functions where the chief justice had been invited and quit his practice as a lawyer in the Supreme Court. It was astonishing to see judges visiting bar councils, he added. Mr Kurd described the National Judicial Policy as detrimental to the judicial system. He pointed out that a deadline of Dec 31 had been set for courts to decide cases. He said the maxim of ‘justice hurried is justice buried’ would turn out to be true in many cases because these, including cases of murder and dacoity, and the rights of defence and the practice of producing evidence of many people would be compromised due to paucity of time. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Chairperson Asma Jehangir also criticised the Supreme Court’s judgment on the NRO and said it appeared to be a decision pronounced by a ‘jirga’. She was of the opinion that the NRO could have been declared null and void by merely declaring it as repugnant to Article 25 of the Constitution, but a Pandora’s box had been opened by the court. Syed Iqbal Haider and Justice (retd) Tariq Mehmood also spoke on the occasion. REFERENCES: Kurd unhappy over SC verdict on NRO By Iftikhar A. Khan Wednesday, 23 Dec, 2009 http://www.dawn.com/news/954680/kurd-unhappy-over-sc-verdict-on-nro Judges deciding cases on media lines: Kurd Daily Times Monitor Wednesday, December 23, 2009 http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\12\23\story_23-12-2009_pg7_12

PESHAWAR: A resident of Swat, who claims to have prepared the fake video of flogging of a girl in Swat, has termed it drama and revealed that he received Rs0.5 million for doing so before the launch of military operation ‘Rah-e-Rast’. Before the operation ‘Rah-e-Rast’, an NGO financed preparation of fake video of flogging in which they portrayed the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) members flogging a woman. The provincial government and Malakand Commissioner Syed Muhammad Javed ordered investigations and sought report from the authorities concerned. After the successful operation in Malakand division, the law-enforcement agencies had arrested the children who were present in the video while a resident of Swat was apprehended by Kohat administration. The children and the arrested man revealed that the video was fake and said that it was made on the demand of Islamabad-based NGO which provided him Rs0.5 million. Sources revealed that woman who was flogged in the video was also arrested and she revealed that she had received Rs0.1 million while Rs50,000were given to each child. Sources said that the NGO produced the video to defame the country’s integrity and respect. Sources stated that the law-enforcement agencies dispatched the report about the arrests of the culprits and proposed action against the NGO. They also said that the security agencies also apprehended the TTP workers who flogged the people. REFERENCE: Video of girl’s flogging in Swat was ‘fake’ Monday, March 29, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=231461&Cat=7&dt=3/29/2010

The video was a fraud [prepared by the sister of a Lawyer who was Chief Spokesman for the Former Defunct CJ Iftikhar M Chaudhry] no doubt and created to Restore the Status of Armed Forces in the Eyes of Pakistan as a Force which can restore peace [whereas they are themselves responsible for Bloodletting in FATA and NWFP]. Shouln’t Mr Athar Minallah be brought to Justice as well because abetting in a crime is tantamount to committing a crime. Athar was appointed Minister for Law, Local Government, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights by the Provincial Government of NWFP (2000-2002) by General Musharraf Military Regime. REFERENCE: Musharraf Consolidates His Control With Arrests By JANE PERLEZ Published: November 4, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/world/asia/04cnd-pakistan.html?_r=1&hp

Jang Group is quite strange because it keeps everybody happy

Islamabad: While the video tape of a seventeen-year-old girl being flogged by the Taliban has led to countrywide protests and condemnation, the NWFP government has questioned the authenticity of the video tape. But those who released the video claim that the video is both genuine and recent. Samar Minallah, the human rights activist and documentary film-maker, while talking to The News said that the video was being circulated from mobile phone to mobile phone and from person to person. She said that she received the video via email from a human rights activist of Swat. Talking about the authenticity of the video Minallah said that everyone in Swat knows that the incident took place but unfortunately the NWFP government wants to divert the attention of the masses from the actual issue of harassment of women. She said that the facts and figures would be produced before the Supreme Court and everyone would come to know about the authenticity of the video. “NWFP minister Mian Iftikhar directly named me while addressing a press conference yesterday while today the NWFP government has been apologising over directly blaming me”, said Samar Minallah adding: “I have got nothing from publicising this horrific video except putting my life in danger and if the government cannot provide me security then at least it should not divert the attention of the masses.” She said that the dialect which the girl was speaking was purely of Swat as she herself has worked in Swat and any Pushtoon could recognise it. Samar said that Muslim Khan, the spokesman of Taliban in Swat, accepted that the incident took place and also told the media that the girl had an illicit relationship with her father-in-law. “If the incident did not take place then how come Muslim Khan came to know about the allegations levelled against the girl?”, said the human rights activist adding: “Muslim Khan said the actual punishment to be awarded to the girl was stoning to death but she was flogged.”

She said that a writer contributing to the BBC had confirmed that the incident was recent and from Swat. She referred to a human rights activist of Swat who when contacted requested anonymity as publishing his name could put his life in danger. The human rights activist said that the video was so common in Swat that everyone was aware of it. The activist had said that he received the video from Taliban who were not happy with the incident as it was un-Islamic because the girl had not faced any trial. “Many Taliban were not happy with the incident and they themselves had made the video and circulated it”, said the human rights activist adding: “The girl’s younger brother was forced to hold her at gunpoint and the man lashing the girl also abused that boy which could be heard easily; the Taliban said to that boy, “Pimp, take her inside the house?” The activist from Swat said that the incident took place in a remote area near village Serbanda in upper Swat and many Taliban say that it was an illegal activity as proper procedure of having four witnesses was not adopted. He was of the view that the video was recent and there were many other similar incidents which could not be highlighted by the media. REFERENCE: Swat video is genuine, claim activists Sunday, April 05, 2009 By Usman Manzoor http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=21338&Cat=13&dt=4/5/2009

And if that was not enough the group which was supporting the Flogging Video was also supporting Mr. Ansar Abbasi who was the harshest critique of that Video:

The protests against the vilification campaign and death threats to the Editor Investigations The News continued in the New Year as well, as the journalist community also backed their profession fellow by protesting in front of the Press Club. Dozens of common people also gathered in front of Geo building to show solidarity with Ansar Abbasi. A sit-in led by President Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalist (RIUJ) Afzal Butt was staged to condemn death threats to a senior journalist because of his daring reports against the government allies and top judicial officer-bearer of the country. The RIUJ president said the threats to Ansar Abbasi were in fact threats given to the whole journalist community. “We all stand by Ansar Abbasi and urge the government to take serious notice of the threats,” Butt said.

Earlier, the Executive Committee of RIUJ also unanimously passed a resolution condemning the death threats to Ansar Abbasi. Meanwhile, the civil society, traders and common citizens, who have been protesting in the twin cities and Murree to show solidarity with Ansar Abbasi, once again staged a protest demo in front of the Geo TV Building. The participants of the Monday’s sit-in were holding placards favouring the daring journalist of Jang Group. Arshad Abbasi, Jamil Abbasi, Aziz Satti, Sawar Satti, Ather Minallah, Tahira Abdullah and Jahangir Akhtar were prominent among the participants. Addressing the participants, Arshad Abbasi paid rich tributes o the editor investigations, The News, and said media was not a governing authority anywhere in the world but it was the duty of media to highlight the malpractices, and this was what Ansar Abbasi was doing. He said Pakistanis were proud of Ansar Abbasi because of his daring reports. Ather Minallah said the current government was a continuation of Musharraf regime and media was not let to perform its duties freely. He said it was unfortunate that the poor people of Pakistan were being suppressed at the hands of elites, but now it was the time to change. He said the inhabitants of the capital would not tolerate any harassment of Ansar Abbasi and would tackle every attack directed towards him. Tahira Abdullah said Ansar Abbasi was a representative of 160 million Pakistanis. She said the whole credit goes to Ansar and the Jang Group for practicing daring and upright journalism. Speakers were of the view that media in Pakistan was the only tool which exposes the wrongdoings of the politicians and top officials, and it was not let to work. They said the whole nation was behind the Jang Group and its daring journalist Ansar Abbasi because of practicing transparent and factual journalism. REFERENCE: Journalists protest threats to Ansar Abbasi Wednesday, January 07, 2009 our correspondent Islamabad http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=156056&Cat=6&dt=1/7/2009

AND CHIEF JUSTICE OF SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN AND HIS BROTHER JUDGES ARE EVEN MORE STRANGE WHO INSTEAD OF INVESTIGATING THE MATTER THOROUGHLY TOOK SUE MOTO NOTICE. THEY FORGOT THE "QURAN" WHICH THEY FONDLY QUOTE ON NRO.

O ye who believe! If a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done. [AL-HUJRAAT (THE PRIVATE APARTMENTS, THE INNER APARTMENTS) Chapter 49 - Verse 6]

Punishment of Qazaf:))) [LASHES FOR FALSE TESTIMONY]

ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, on Friday took suo moto notice of a girl’s flogging in Swat and issued notices to the federal interior secretary and the chief secretary as well as the inspector general police, NWFP, to personally appear before the court on Monday. He also directed the federal interior secretary to procure and produce the victim (girl) before the court on the date fixed. According to Reuters grainy video footage, which emerged on Friday, apparently shot with a mobile phone camera shows militants making the burqa-clad girl lie on the ground on her stomach. One man holds her feet and another her head while a third man with a black beard and turban flogs her with a leather strap. Men can be seen looking on. “For God’s sake, stop it … hang on, hang on,” the girl cries as the man beats her across the buttocks. A militant commander off-camera can be heard giving orders as the girl squirms and whimpers under the blows: “Hold her feet tightly, hold her hands tightly.” Human rights activist Samar Minallah said the girl was from a poor family and was flogged after a neighbour told the Taliban she had had an affair. “They did this brutality just on suspicion. There was no trial. No evidence, no witness was produced,” she said. The chief justice ordered fixation of the matter under the Article 184(3) of the Constitution before an eight-member larger bench of the Supreme Court to be headed by him (CJP) on Monday. The larger bench consists of Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed and Justice Ch Ijaz Ahmed. In this respect, notices have also been issued to the attorney general (AG), NWFP advocate general and Peshawar High Court Bar Association president to appear on the fixed date to assist the court. The CJP took a serious notice on a video clipping screened on private television channels. In his suo-moto notice, the CJP said the matter was a serious violation of fundamental rights, guaranteed under the Constitution.

The CJP observed that the exact place/venue of the incident and the circumstances under which the punishment by whipping was administered was not known, it certainly constituted a serious violation of law and fundamental rights of the citizens of the country. Geo TV, which showed the video of the incident, has also been directed to produce the CD of the incident. Three private TV channels have also been asked that they may jointly compile the video material of the incident and arrange to display the same before the court on Monday. According to a press statement, issued by the Supreme Court registrar office, Geo News Television Channel released a video film on Friday of a 17-year-old girl being whipped in public. The punishment was administered by some unknown persons. In the film, one person had held the girl from hands, the other from feet and the third one was beating her with a whip. The victim girl was continuously crying/screaming. The charge was that she went out of her home with a “Namahram”. The exact place of incident was not reported; however, it appears to be some place in Mingora or some village in Swat. Probably, the said news was also released by the foreign media, the statement said. It said that it is a very cruel act, violation of the fundamental rights and gives a very bad name to the country. The treatment is also in violation of Islamic norms/principles.

It further said the Constitution of Pakistan guarantees fundamental rights of its citizens. No person can be deprived of life, liberty without due process of law. The dignity of person is inviolable. No person can be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment/punishment. Whipping is prohibited by law. The incident, therefore, constitutes a serious violation of the Constitution/law. “It may be pointed out that according to Article 247 of the Constitution, the executive authority of the Federation extends to the Tribal Areas, including the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata). The federal/ provincial laws do not automatically apply to the Tribal Areas; however, such laws can be extended to it with the approval of president/governor,” the statement said. It said the relevant portion of the Article 247 says: “Subject to the Constitution, the executive authority of the Federation shall extend to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and the executive authority of a province shall extend to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas therein.” Neither the Supreme Court nor a high court shall exercise any jurisdiction under the Constitution in relation to a tribal area, unless Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) by law otherwise provides: “Provided that nothing in this clause shall affect the jurisdiction which the Supreme Court or a high court exercised in relation to a Tribal Area immediately before the commencing day.” It is pointed out that in the 1970s, the Supreme Court and high court jurisdiction was extended to Pata. So, in view of the above, the CJP may consider taking action in this matter under the Article 184(3) of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly denounced the flogging in public of a young woman and called for a report from the government and apprehending those involved in the heinous crime. Spokesman for the president Farhatullah Babar said the president was shocked over this act of barbarism and had asked for a report from the government and the local administration.The spokesman said the inhuman and barbaric punishment meted out to the woman had made the heads of the people hang in shame. “For its sheer atrocity, the incident will continue to haunt the people and the country even in a distant age and clime,” he said. He said the perpetrators of the crime had done a great disservice to humanity, religion and morality. “Such barbarism is unpardonable and cannot be tolerated; it will not be,” he said. The prime minister also ordered the authorities to inquire into the incident and submit a report. He said, “The incident was also contrary to the Islamic principles, as our religion teaches us to treat the women politely and gently.” The prime minister said, “The government believes in the rights of women and will continue to take every measure to protect their rights.” REFERENCE: CJ takes notice of girl’s flogging Saturday, April 04, 2009 – Orders production of victim in court on Monday; constitutes eight-member larger bench; president, PM condemn, order inquiry into incident By Sohail Khan and Asim Yasin http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=21319

ANARACHIST LAWYERS: THOSE WHO SUPPORT JUDICIARY RATHER JUDGES OFTEN INSULT PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN WITH SWEEPING STATEMENTS.

QUETTA: President of Supreme Court Bar Association Qazi Muhammed Anwar said the Parliament cannot usurp the freedom of the judiciary, Geo News reported Saturday. Addressing lawyers at District Katchehry here, he said the judiciary is free to function under the Constitution and nobody including Parliament would be allowed to restrict its independence. Qazi continued the smugglers sitting at the Parliament could not be allowed the power to appoint judges, adding lawyers will correct themselves if all the institutions are back on the right path. It is unthinkable under the Constitution to have a criminal as President of the state, as President needs to be free from all crimes including corruption under Article-248 of the Constitution, he maintained. Reacting to the kidnapping of a lawyer, Iftikharul Haq, Qazi Anwar said he is satisfied with the government development, adding he hoped that Iftikhar would soon be free. - Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Qazi Muhammad Anwar has warned that the move to make the judiciary subservient to parliament would be opposed, saying that the smugglers sitting in the parliament would not be authorized to appoint judges, a private TV reported. Addressing the lawyers in Quetta, Qazi said that parliament is noted just as an independent institution in the constitution and not supreme. Qazi warned the constitutional committee against pursuing the policy to muffle judiciary. He urged the Balochistan lawyers to continue their strike until recovery of Iftikharul Haq. REFERENCE: Smugglers in Parliament cannot appoint judges Updated at: 1313 PST, Saturday, March 27, 2010 http://www.geo.tv/3-27-2010/61831.htm SCBA rejects judges’ appointment by ‘smugglers’ in Parliament March 27, 2010 http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/27-Mar-2010/SCBA-rejects-judges-appointment-by-smugglers-in-Parliament

While the PML-N chief’s recent statements have brought the constitutional reforms committee back to square one, Supreme Court Bar Association President Qazi Anwar’s statement that “smugglers in parliament” could not be given the authority to appoint judges reflects the real intent of the mindset operating against a parliament struggling to establish its supreme authority over all other state institutions. It is no more a secret that an SCBA delegation – led by Qazi Anwar – met the PML-N chief with an agenda. Nawaz assured the delegation of his support, and said he would never let the judiciary be undermined by parliament – the ‘mother’ of all institutions in a democracy. If the increasing hobnobbing between the PML-N and the Qazi Anwar-led legal fraternity needs proof, it would be suffice to state here that the PML-N chief is yet to condemn Qazi’s statement on parliamentarians, while everybody else – in the Senate and the National Assembly – has squarely censured the statement. At the same time, one has to wonder why the entire party leadership – including the hawks and doves – is struggling and finding it hard to defend their chief’s U-turn. PML-N leaders appear quite at loss when it comes to their chief’s statement that Law Minister Babar Awan should not be part of the judicial commission on the appointment of judges, as they know it is the ministry rather than the person in charge that gets representation. AS PER THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL - Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Qazi Anwar, who along with his team held two sessions with the PML-N chief at Jati Umrah on Saturday, told The News on phone from Lahore that Nawaz Sharif had assured them that his party would convince the parliamentary committee to reconstitute the judicial commission to the extent of reducing its members from six to five by dropping the law minister as its member. He said the PML-N chief, who was assisted by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Shahbaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar and Khawaja Haris, said that although it would not be possible for his party to get the recommendations pertaining to judges’ appointment changed altogether, yet it would be ensured that the Commission’s recommendations would be made binding on the parliamentary committee and that if it disagrees on any name, it has to give reasons in writing with the support of the 3/4th of its total members.

These reasons, Qazi Anwar explained, however, would be justiciable i.e. such reasons could be adjudicated by the court. He said the PML-N offered that it would strive for the revision of the judicial commission to the extent that it should include three judges including the Chief Justice of Pakistan, who would also be its chairman, as its members in addition to the attorney general and the Supreme Court Bar Association president. Qazi Anwar said that he and his team members disapprove the recommendations of the Rabbani Committee and dubbed it as a conspiracy against the independent judiciary to which, according to him, Nawaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that their party would do everything to preserve and protect the freedom and independence of the judiciary. The SCBA president said that his team told the PML-N leadership that instead of setting up a commission and a parliamentary committee, parliament could consider the Indian model where a collegium of judges makes the appointments in the superior judiciary. The SCBA president said that his team told the PML-N leadership that instead of setting up a commission and a parliamentary committee, parliament could consider the Indian model where a collegium of judges makes the appointments in the superior judiciary.

He said that Nawaz Sharif told the lawyers that he recently talked to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, asking the latter to refer the recommendations concerning the judiciary to the Chief Justice of Pakistan for his input. Qazi Anwar said that he opposed this for the reason that such an informal consultation with the judiciary would be in conflict with the judiciary’s mandate to review any law or constitutional provision. How would the Supreme Court adjudge such a constitutional amendment if it is tomorrow challenged, Qazi wondered, and added that it also compromises with parliament’s right to make a law or amend the Constitution. Qazi said that the Supreme Court always has the right to adjudicate on any law or constitutional amendment. The SCBA president said that a convention of lawyers held in Lahore on Thursday also rejected the Rabbani recommendations concerning the judiciary. REFERENCE: ‘Mr Nawaz, the nation wants in on what you know’By Muhammad Akram Wednesday, March 31, 2010 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\03\31\story_31-3-2010_pg7_30 Nawaz for new judicial commission - Wants law minister to be dropped as member and recommendations to be made binding By Ansar Abbasi Sunday, March 21, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=27889

Qazi Anwar was sentenced nine months in jail for possessing explosives in 1979, adding Lahore High Court curtailed his punishment; however, his charge was kept unchanged. PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court’s Barrister Bacha requested Pakistan Bar Council’s Executive Committee for the ineligibility of Supreme Court Bar Association President Qazi Muhammed Anwar, Geo News reported Monday. Talking to Geo News, Bacha said Qazi Anwar was sentenced nine months in jail for possessing explosives in 1979, adding Lahore High Court curtailed his punishment; however, his charge was kept unchanged. Bacha said a convicted person cannot be the representative of the lawyers; therefore, he demanded the removal of Qazi from his office. He said the PBC’s executive council directed Qazi Anwar to appear before the body on February 14 for explanation in this connection. REFERENCE: PBC approached for Qazi Anwar’s ineligibility Updated at: 1445 PST, Monday, February 01, 2010 http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=97613

Sindh Assembly members on Monday took strong exception to the statement of President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Qazi Anwar and termed it an insult to the august house. PPP’s parliamentary leader Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq said that the SCBA president had breached the privilege of legislators by saying that “smugglers and rogues” were sitting in the parliament. He condemned such attitude of the leader of lawyers’ body, saying that the lawyers were supposed to follow their code of conduct, which calls for using cautious language and avoiding allegations. He said that good and bad people happen to be everywhere but it was not advisable to generalize the matter. Minister for Law Mohammed Ayaz Soomro said that parliament was a supreme body that makes the constitution. MQM’s Shoaib Bukhari said that Qazi Anwar has “belittled” his stature by using such awkward language. He said that Supreme Court exists because of parliament, adding, if the lawyers continued this attitude the people might stop respecting them. Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro observed that the legislators could move a privilege motion to summon the SCBA president before the PA body. - ISLAMABAD: The statement of President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Qazi Anwar in which he labelled the parliamentarians as “smugglers” made the legislators protest strongly against these remarks in the National Assembly and urged the House to move a joint privilege motion against these remarks. Raising the issue on a point of order on Monday, PML-Q legislator Waqas Akram Sheikh contended that the SCBA president had declared all the parliamentarians “thieves and smugglers” without any evidence and thus insulted parliament that is a supreme body. He proposed for a joint privilege motion of the House against such remarks so that no body could level charges against parliamentarians without any evidence.PML-N legislator Khawaja Saad Rafiq declared the SCBA president as an unbalanced person, who should not be taken seriously yet he opposed any motion against him. But PPP legislator Nadeem Afzal Gondal, who supported Sheikh Waqas Akram’s view of presenting the joint privilege motion against the SCBA president’s remarks, at the same expressed the desire that some anchor persons and a section of the media should also be included in it. However, independent legislator Saima Bharwana and PPP legislator Syed Zafar Ali Shah opposed the proposal to move a privilege motion. Saima Akhtar Bharwana said rather than focusing on these remarks there is a need to question those legislators, who spent two years in the House with fake degrees. “The government should go into a review petition with a plea to put a life ban on those who got fake degrees and recover all the money from them spent in two years on their perks and privileges,” she added. While Syed Zafar Ali Shah was of view that rather than focusing on this issue there is need to consume the energies on the issues relating to people. Earlier, raising the issue on a point of order, Sheikh Waqas Akram suggested that the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms was still working so they should be requested to add a clause to the Constitution that anybody who accused the parliamentarians without any evidence would be liable to contempt of parliament. REFERENCES: MPAs take strong exception to SCBA president’s comment By our correspondent Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Karachi http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=231614 Qazi Anwar under fire in NA By Asim Yasin Tuesday, March 30, 2010 http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=28072

LAHORE: Protests against a lawyer slapping a civil judge in a Faisalabad courtroom are still being registered, as at least one hundred civil judges of Lahore have decided to go on leave, a private TV channel reported on Saturday. According to the channel, civil judges in the provincial metropolis and Arifwala also demanded a one-month leave of absence in protest against the slapping incident. Liaquat Javaid advocate had slapped Civil Judge Tariq Mehmood in a local Faisalabad court during case proceedings. Meanwhile, lawyers have warned that they would continue to boycott courts until the withdrawal of charges against Liaquat, while court proceedings in Pakpattan and Arifwala remained suspended for a second day on Saturday. REFERENCES: 100 civil judges go on leave over slapping incident Daily Times Monitor Sunday, March 28, 2010 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\03\28\story_28-3-2010_pg7_6 Lawyer slaps civil judge in Faisalabad By Muhammad Saleem Tuesday, 23 Mar, 2010 http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/19-lawyer-slaps-judge-in-faisalabad-330-hh-03

ARIFWALA: Four civil judges resigned from their offices here on Friday to protest against the misbehaviour with their colleague by a lawyer in Faisalabad. The four civil judges — Adnan Mushtaq Bhatti, Manzoor Hussain, Imtiaz Hussain Sheikh and Adnan Anjum Gondal — sent their resignations to Additional Sessions Judge Mehmoodul Hassan. Earlier, the four civil judges locked their courtrooms for an hour. After opening their courtrooms, the judges went to their residences to register their protest. They demanded immediate arrest of the accused. Our Rawalpindi correspondent adds: The judicial work in the Rawalpindi district courts remained suspended as all the civil judges went on a strike against the Faisalabad incident. REFERENCE: Slapping of judge by lawyer in Faisalabad Saturday, March 27, 2010 By our correspondent http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=231159

FAISALABAD: Forty-five civil judges of district Faisalabad on Monday tendered their resignations in protest against manhandling of their colleague, Tariq Mehmood Kahot, allegedly by an advocate in the court. The civil judges, in their resignations delivered to the Senior Civil Judge, made it clear that if the accused advocate, Liaquat Javaid, was not taken to task under the law on charges of disgracing, humiliating, manhandling and abusing in the presence of the court officials, litigants and other lawyers, they would not perform their duties from the next working day, Wednesday. Civil Judge Tariq Mehmood Kahot reportedly took up a case in which the court bailiff had taken into custody an accused involved in a default case. Liaquat Javaid, counsel for the accused, asked the judge to release the accused as the default amount had already been deposited. The learned judge, after perusing the file and record of the case, observed that there was no such receipt of payment on the file and declared his inability to entertain the contention of the advocate. On this, Liaquat Javaid Advocate flared up and started abusing the learned judge. He rushed to the dais of the court and allegedly slapped the judge repeatedly and beat him up severely. The court officials and some lawyers, after hectic efforts, succeeded in rescuing the judge, who went into his retiring room. REFERENCE: Judge slapped 45 civil judges resign in protest Tuesday, March 23, 2010 http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=27927

To his supporters, and there are many, Pakistan’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry is a hero, a man of honor who stood up for an independent judiciary and defied the diktats of former President Pervez Musharraf — and who continues to hold the political establishment accountable. To his detractors, however, Chaudhry is an activist jurist with unbridled powers, a populist with grandiose political ambitions. In a country where politics can get very personal, the Chief Justice’s relationships with the pillars of civilian and military power, President Asif Ali Zardari and Army Chief of Staff General Ashfaq Kayani respectively, could be important in shaping Pakistan’s transition from de facto military rule to civilian democracy. And those relationships are likely to be tested in the tussle over a package of wide-ranging constitutional reforms that was due to be introduced to parliament on Friday, whose purpose is to reverse changes made by previous military rulers, trim the power of the presidency, and alter the procedure for Supreme Court appointments. The bill would take Supreme Court appointments out of the hands of the president, who now makes nominations after consulting with the chief justice, and place them before a government legal committee that also includes several justices. Unlike the present system, judges would have to be confirmed by a parliamentary vote. The proposed reforms have widened the rift between Chaudhry and the government that has grown since the Chief Justice last year struck down amnesty decrees by Musharraf that protected many senior figures in government — including Zardari himself once out of office — from prosecution on corruption charges. And some saw the Chief Justice’s hand in the eleventh-hour stalling of parliamentary debate on the package on Friday by opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, who objected to proposals on the selection of judges. Sharif’s opposition, some senior politicians suggest, results from being pressured by Chaudhry, who is allegedly opposed to having his own power in the selection of judges curtailed. “The chief justice threatened [Sharif]. He said he’d open up all cases against him,” a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party said on condition of anonymity. “He’s become an absolute dictator.”

On the contrary, says a legal expert at the Supreme Court and Chaudhry associate speaking on condition of anonymity, the conflict is caused by the “government [wanting] a chief justice and court which is compliant, not independent.” The standoff over how judges are selected could have far-reaching implications in a political order feeling its way towards democracy, with the different branches of government are “attempting to first stretch the bounds of their authority and second, to learn how to work with each other,” says Samina Ahmed, Pakistan director for the International Crisis Group, a global policy-research center. “The problem in Pakistan has [historically] been with the military’s intervention, transitions have been disrupted, and the judiciary in the past has supported every military intervention.” But as the two civilian branches of government tussle over their powers, neither appears to have clear backing from the military, whose preferences are often decisive. Still, some Pakistani media commentators suggest that the generals may be colluding with the judges to limit the power of government, already groaning under the weight of the president’s sagging popularity. They point to a stalled but soon-to-be-reopened Supreme Court case that accuses intelligence agencies of using the “war on terror” as a pretext to secretly detain thousands of citizens suspected of links to Baluchi separatists and other radical groups. The local Dawn newspaper reported last month that Supreme Court Justice Javed Iqbal said that the court “would not like to create the impression that it was out to destroy or tarnish the image of intelligence agencies” with regard to these cases. Chaudhry had in 2007 begun to investigate the issue of Pakistanis alleged to have disappeared into secret custody before he was deposed by Musharraf, and had ordered members of the security forces to produce several of the missing in court. Now, some media commentators are suggesting that Chaudhry is retreating from that fight. Chaudhry’s supporters deny the claim, and say that the court will not shy away from prosecuting any security officials who have broken the law. Whatever the outcome of the particular battles over constitutional powers and various court cases, what remains clear is that Justice Chaudhry, while holding an office that is ostensibly above politics, will remain in the thick of it. REFERENCE: Pakistan’s Chief Justice Takes on its Political Class By RANIA ABOUZEID / ISLAMABAD Saturday, Mar. 27, 2010 http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1975646,00.html